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Hey B4Ctom1, welcome to nouveau lesbian motoring. I have a '15 Forester XT Premium. Glad to hear your wife and you are enjoying the car! Some observations: *EyeSight is the fucken bomb. I have come perilously close to an accident due to a microsleep and having experienced that, EyeSight being a second set of eyes watching the road is amazing peace of mind. I test drove a Legacy with it fitted and while it did have one false alarm (faded paint on an off-ramp) it's worth the odd false alarm for that assurance. That said, I don't have EyeSight, because the packaging for XT models doesn't allow EyeSight unless you go "Touring", which in my case would have been $6,500 and I didn't want leather. *The huge moonroof and amazing visibility are easily two of my favorite things about the car. It's like sitting inside a fishtank with the top open, the pillars are thin and it's really boxy. *I have blown a tire - the XT and Touring trims share wheel size and the rims are almost the same (XT is painted in some parts) - but I don't know if the tires are - my Bridgestone Dueler H/L 400 cost $180 to replace IIRC. The donut is terrible, and when I priced a full-sized spare rim it was actually not offensively expensive. *There are fewer storage "places" than the last model Forester, and they are smaller. This pisses me off - the old one you could remove a part of the center console and lie a loving laptop down in there. There is nowhere you can hide an iPad except under the seats or under the cargo floor. *There is an idiotic design flaw of these Foresters when equipped with the tailgate spoiler that is going to promptly drive you insane: the back window gets really dirty, really quickly. How is this a design flaw? Well, I am guessing happens is that there is an area of low air pressure generated by the car moving through the air and circulated just below the spoiler. If the car is even *slightly* damp (think, it just rained, or it was foggy/misty overnight) dust, dirt and grime just kinda "circulate" there at the tailgate and turns to mud. And it gets loving filthy really quickly - like, the rest of the car can look like it was just washed, and the tailgate is brown. And inevitably you'll decide that you want to see out the back window - so you run the rear washer/wiper, which leaves you with a delightful trail of mud around the tailgate.`  Other things I've learned just in case you (or anyone else with this generation Foz) are interested: *You can mount a dashcam behind the rear view mirror and tap into the power for the moonroof so that the camera is running only when the car is - this is because the moonroof will only work with the engine on. The cabling will run into the compartment that holds your sunglasses. May be a lot tighter fit though if you have EyeSight. And of course you might gently caress everything up in there. Don't say I didn't warn you. *I didn't like the chrome on the front of the car was a bit much for me so I plasti-dipped it to a darker color. The lower-half of the front grill comes off very easily. The top half comes off fairly easily but does require some physical force to be applied in a manner that you might break poo poo. *The CVT on the 2.5L models is not bad, seems to be well paired to the engine and doesn't hesitate, nor does it play catch-up the way Subaru's 1st gen CVT did (I used to own a '12 Legacy). Unfortunately, the 2015 Foresters with the 2.5L engine don't get paddle shift any more. Even with the sluggish CVT in my old Legacy I used the paddles all the time - for things like engine braking or in anticipation of an overtake. The CVT on the XT/WRX is downright good. My only complaints with it is that the car has the three drive modes - Intelligent, Sport and Sport # - and I wish I could just leave it in one - but when you stop/start the car, it will always go back to "Intelligent". edit: This is my car post Plasti-dip, and with some LED-DRLs. Because I am a child. 
sarcastx fucked around with this message at 04:30 on Mar 14, 2015 |
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Mar 14, 2015 04:14
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sarcastx posted:*There is an idiotic design flaw of these Foresters when equipped with the tailgate spoiler that is going to promptly drive you insane: the back window gets really dirty, really quickly. How is this a design flaw? This seems to be the case with a lot of modern, more aerodynamic hatchbacks. I first noticed it on my Bugeye Impreza and Mazda Protege5. Fast forward a few years of body refinements and my Audi A3 turns its entire hatch area into a solid pack of ice and snow when highway driving in a snowstorm.
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Mar 14, 2015 06:44
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Now that I am driving my wife's old brown 2009 Outback I get the plaid and birkenstocks comments from my friends all the time now. It too has the spoiler over the rear window. I live down 8.5 miles of dirt road and it does it worse than the Forester. When I drive the 2015 Forester (which is not a lot) in the 30 mile commute home, it is often after 12 hours of mixed shift days to nights and back again railroad work. It has made me painfully aware of how tired, inattentive, and dangerous it is for me and my co-workers who make this journey. It is helping me recognize that when I am driving the 2009 I need to pay particular attention now. Thanks for the heads up on the dash cam power. Because where we live, the kinds of conditions we face, the wildlife, the dangers, my wife and I have had so many times when we wished we had a dash cam. 3 days ago was a great example. Some guy (in another subaru of all cars) passed us in the worst loving spot, running a truck clean off the road in the other direction. I got his plate and turned him in to the Colorado Highway patrol. They actually tried to roll him up but when he realized I likely reported him, he took a side road. Mine doesn't have a sunglass case. That contains my control panel for the Eyesight. What is plastic-dip? I mean what did you use it for? Also, you do know those LED lights occupy the already too narrow air feeds for the intercooler?
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Mar 24, 2015 04:18
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B4Ctom1 posted:What is plastic-dip? I mean what did you use it for? I really didn't like the silver grill/plastichrome on the front of the FXT; something about it just seems off. Plastidip is a spray-on rubber coating that comes in a ton of colors - it's very very easy to apply and remove, and it's very durable. Many people have resprayed their entire car with the coating with mixed results. I just used it to cover the chromed plastic for the grill surround and the "wing" that is on either side of the front Subaru badge. This is what the Forester XT looks like without the LEDs/paint:  B4Ctom1 posted:Also, you do know those LED lights occupy the already too narrow air feeds for the intercooler? Nope. Those gill-things on the sides are stupid plastic gap fillers that do nothing; they're not even porous. All that's down in that part of the car is the washer bottle on one side and pretty much nothing on the other. The Japanese FXT has LED lights there, though smaller than the ones I fitted. The intercooler is on top of the engine, air is fed through the same grill opening that cools the radiator and channeled through some funky ductwork (see below).  I miss the hood scoop. edit: While researching how to install my dashcam I found the forum post below; this guy has EyeSight on his car so you might get some useful ideas there: http://www.subaruforester.org/vbulletin/f77/eyesight-dashcam-recommendations-232434/#post2571426 sarcastx fucked around with this message at 20:51 on Mar 24, 2015 |
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Mar 24, 2015 20:45
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sarcastx posted:While researching how to install my dashcam I found the forum post below; this guy has EyeSight on his car so you might get some useful ideas there: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7wmIyD1fM4M 1080p on it is 1.38GB per 10 mins. On a 64GB card that would be 7 hours 43 minutes of recording before the loop destroys old files. Anyone know if huge files or short files are better in this application? Maybe for reasons I haven't considered? Also interesting about the pretend intercooler scoops.
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Mar 27, 2015 14:49
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B4Ctom1 posted:Anyone know if huge files or short files are better in this application? Maybe for reasons I haven't considered? Dashcams are a bit tricky; unlike, say, GoPro, there hasn't been one "go to" reliable brand/model that's really gained a sterling reputation. I have a G1W that I purchased from eBay seller 'eStore009', some people have them lasting 30 days or less, mine's been running with minimal fault for 2 years. The fault is that it won't keep correct time - it was updated for Daylight Saving, and it's already 11 minutes out. Some people have problems with particular memory cards, others have had problems with recording at settings other than the default. I've just got the clock problem. Here's a video from inside my Forester, it's positioned just behind the mirror. The G1W records at 1080p with audio (although I've disabled the microphone) and I have it recording in 5 minute chunks, each around 480MB. Each chunk overlaps the prior one by a few seconds. This camera only supports 32GB cards which adds up to about 5 hours and change of driving. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j4ot3JMhGCQ I like the "5 minute chunk" method, because I can imagine a situation where I'm involved in an accident and have to turn over evidence to someone, this way I can just give them the relevant file and not have to worry about them having like 10 minutes on either side of the event. In addition the G1W has a small screen, so again, if you were in a traffic incident, you'd have the opportunity to present your footage to an officer at the scene immediately if there were any doubt about who was at fault. The screen turns off automatically after 2 minutes. B4Ctom1 posted:Also interesting about the pretend intercooler scoops. Yeah. Not sure why they did this. 
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Mar 29, 2015 00:53
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sarcastx posted:Dashcams are a bit tricky; unlike, say, GoPro, there hasn't been one "go to" reliable brand/model that's really gained a sterling reputation. I have a G1W that I purchased from eBay seller 'eStore009', some people have them lasting 30 days or less, mine's been running with minimal fault for 2 years. The fault is that it won't keep correct time - it was updated for Daylight Saving, and it's already 11 minutes out. Some people have problems with particular memory cards, others have had problems with recording at settings other than the default. I've just got the clock problem. What a twat, turning in front of you like that. Who does that? I would be more likely to get my nose clipped off edging out so that I have enough view to see. But that "ok.. gently caress everyone else.. good luck!" driving attitude is deplorable. Thanks for the hint on the 5 minute file info. That makes the most sense. Those loving vents have panels in them? If anything you probably improved the airflow. Is there any chance to improve airflow for the IC?
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Mar 31, 2015 16:37
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sarcastx posted:Dashcams are a bit tricky; unlike, say, GoPro, there hasn't been one "go to" reliable brand/model that's really gained a sterling reputation. I have a G1W that I purchased from eBay seller 'eStore009', some people have them lasting 30 days or less, mine's been running with minimal fault for 2 years. The fault is that it won't keep correct time - it was updated for Daylight Saving, and it's already 11 minutes out. Some people have problems with particular memory cards, others have had problems with recording at settings other than the default. I've just got the clock problem. I have two G1Ws. One of them randomly refuses to turn off when the car is shut off, and shows that it's still charging (and actually backfeeds the charger, which has caused some weird poo poo to happen with anything on the accessory circuit). It'll stay on for several minutes until the battery dies. That one also randomly loses the time/date. The other one was bought to replace it (since actually shipping it back to China would cost nearly as much as just buying a new one). The only issues I have are the clock runs a little fast (but so does the one on my stereo - both the original factory stereo, and the Pioneer I replaced it with  ), and the battery is pretty much toast. Just shutting off the car causes the battery meter to go down to 1/2 before it shuts off on its own - I can use it for about 30 seconds without the power supply. I'll probably try to swap the batteries between them soon, if the flaky one can still take a charge (it's been sitting for about a year).Mine's gained 3 minutes since I changed it for daylight savings. Also found a neat bug in it where you can't change the date without a factory reset (learned that when I had to change the time last spring, and it was just before midnight), but that's a firmware version specific thing that the other one doesn't suffer from. This one at least defaults to English after a reset; the other one defaults to Russian.
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Apr 1, 2015 04:43
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